Dina Battisto, BArch, MArch, MS, PhD, is an associate professor of architecture at Clemson University, where she teaches in the graduate Architecture + Health program. Her research and scholarship activities focus on studying relationships between health, healthcare, and the built environment. Jacob J. Wilhelm works in architectural practice and publication, exploring hospitality, housing, and vernacular solutions for growing mountain and remote regions.
One of the traps experienced healthcare architects fall into is replicating the status quo. The primary strengths of this book are, firstly, the diversity of ideas and approaches from all over the world force the reader to explore new ideas and approaches. Secondly, the use of case studies takes ideas beyond the conceptual and demonstrates their execution, thereby, helping the reader to understand the applicability to his or her situation. I would highly recommend this book to those who want to step back and reflect on the greater issue of health and environment. Joyce Durham RN, AIA, EDAC, Director of Facilities Strategic Planning; New York-Presbyterian Architecture and Health reflects the broadened identity of both the architecture and health professions: architects now recognize that their responsibilities include the global built environment, while health professionals have begun to embrace global health and well-being as central to their work. The essays in this book also help us understand why that change has happened: both our built environment and our health system are unsustainable, inequitable, and unaffordable in their current form. Thomas Fisher Professor, School of Architecture; Director, Minnesota Design Center, University of Minnesota